Ironically, and off the top of my head, she is immediately ‘cancelling’ Ophelia, Desdemona, Portia, Othello & Shylock. Also, why does she think so many female characters dressed up as men to enjoy agency or, while we’re here, they were *all* literally played by actual males for years?
I feel like it’s giving her too much credit to assume she knows anything whatsoever about any of those characters.
If she’d seen the RSC’s recent, and brilliant, production of The Merchant of Venice then maybe, just maybe, a few pennies might’ve dropped…🙄
Marlowe’s Edward II would make her hair stand on end!!!
This is one of those "Where do I F**king Begin?" situations, isn't it?
Cleopatra Helena from All’s Well (I mean, almost all female protagonists from every play, but I have a soft spot for Helena despite her obvious crimes) Caliban Cressida
www.imdb.com/title/tt0138...
Even I, a filthy Shakespeare casual, could come up with a list off the top of my head. Definitely a skill issue on her part.
What on earth does she think the theme of The Taming of the Shrew is?
She is missing so much in the plays. Gender roles, relationships, colonialism and race were all concerns explored in the plays for his time, not imposed later (even if they were that's not an issue). I even sent her my book! amzn.eu/d/bJ17TTF
Understanding sexism today is quite a challenge in the 21st century. Dealing with characters in the 16th and early 17th century is going to be hard without bring 21st century values into the debate.
Why shouldn't we bring in and cf today's values? The themes existed back then and today. That the name for it didn't exist or was different back then, does not mean the theme did not exist or cannot be compared to life today. Just read/watch Taming of the Shrew. Compare the values held then & today.
James, come on, she’s an idiot. She gets attention from racists and thinks that they’ll accept her rather than treating her like the useful idiot. See also; Calvin Robinson, Suella Braverman and Eric Adams
This was a module when I studied English Lit. 35 years ago. So, it's not a new idea.
🤷🏽♂️ ⬅️ this guy deserves a hell of a raise
Is the Taming of the Shrew a sexist play or a play about sexism? Is the Merchant of Venice racist or about racism? Is Richard II implied to be gay? Those are a few frames off the top of my head for Ms Birbalsingh and I am a STEM graduate. But I suspect she is not arguing in good faith.
To GB or not to GB.
😂
She's really not very good at educating children, is she?
How does she keep her job???
Just be thankful that you live nowhere near the catchment area of her awful school and never have to let her ‘educate’ your children.
Only well behaved bright girls need apply…
Insufferable woman. I hate that we live in a world where these people get so much bandwidth in the media.
She really hasn’t read or watched Shakespeare in performance, has she. Birbalsingh doesn’t think. She just parrots right wing nut jobs & will join Reform before she retires.
Thank you @mrjamesob.bsky.social
I'm no thinking that she's really headteacher material
Lady Macbeth also: "unsex me here".
Probably say a lot of his spelling is problematic too; it is though he was making a lot of them up!
And Titus Andronicus.
I wonder if she’s heard of George Elliot ? 😊
The Tempest ... hmm...
What a deeply stupid woman she is, and with the emotional depth of a pot of nail polish. I can’t think of anyone less suited for a career in education.
Maybe she could go on TV to explain…..
"If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" Springs to mind.
From the press coverage she gets, people could be forgiven for thinking she heads the only school in the UK.
Those are not the only things she said bsky.app/profile/pant...
She’s grifting. They all do it.
The public school dominated British media know full well that plays like Merchant of Venice and Othello address bigotry … so why don’t Times/Telegraph/etc laugh her out of town instead of ceaselessly promoting her? #ClientJournalism
Because culture wars work, they resulted in Brexit, Trump winning (twice) & very soon Fromage becoming PM
Pffft, details-schmetails.
She could start by watching ‘Upstart Crow’.
I wonder if anyone would ever have heard of Burblesing if her friend Sewerella hadn’t been batting for her?
The “strictest headmistress in Britain” clearly isn’t its brightest.
No matter how it's dressed up the woman to the vast majority of people is toxic Her close relationship with Suella Braverman & her constant support of right wing doctrines in my opinion is a reason why I would rid this country of private and independent schools. The elitism isn't envied it's toxic
Sorry to undermine a good point but there's a strong case that the f characters dressed as men precisely because it was boys playing them. The m versions were easier to costume & more believable. Still, it's hard to argue that the works don't show significant awareness of gender/race issues.
She also recently said that she doesn't think there are any Trans+ kids in her school because she doesn't believe that black and brown people can be Trans+ Racism aside, this is the prejudice and lack of professional curiosity we're dealing with her
Of course she thinks that. I bet she thinks homosexuality is a white invention as well.
She just wants to be on telly
No problem there, given how broken our media environment is I’m surprised she’s ever off it!
"..why does she think so many female characters dressed up as men to enjoy agency" You think Shakeyb did this as a comment on female agency? Really? Not just a natural result of all the women being played by men?
Gold plated weapons grade ignorance
That's the very reason why we still teach Shakespeare today. The timelessness and shared humanity of the themes mean many plays can be (and are) presented against different historical and contemporary backdrops. FFS, has she never heard of West Side Story?
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻✔️
I’m slightly surprised she’s heard of Shakespeare, tbh.
"Wokespeare"
Another individual who has started to believe her own headlines, but lacks any substance. Very common on the right….
She’s bonkers.
The question is- how can a person so ignorant of Shakespeare be the head of a school?
The thing we all have to remember, this awful woman is a head teacher and therefore 100% correct about everything all the time, as are all head teachers and their SLTs would agree.
Infamy, infamy... ...they've all hot it on for me... Julius Caesar 44BC